July 2018

Got out with Wes, Derek, and Hagen today for a full day tarpon trip.  We had a two boat trip but unfortunately the other captain had a health issue but luckily was able to round up somebody else short notice.  Though they did some other stuff with the other group.  We headed out early and looked for tarpon in the area I’d been fishing the last few days.  Yesterday it seemed to slow down a little there, today it really was dead.  Also had a little more of a southwesterly wind not my favorite.  There were a handful of fish, but small packs that were zipping around very fast and just not really able to line up on them.  We fished for a bit and looked for a while longer all through there and didn’t see a whole lot.  Tried the other channel nearby too just blind fishing but no love aside from a few sharks.  We then ran towards some other areas and did run over a tarpon rolling.  I stopped and we looked around and we were all of a sudden in a pack of them.  We set up and ended up with a good rally of fish, landing 3 and then jumping off a couple others!  After that though about 30 minutes later, it was done with they moved on.  But a good little action packed rally.  We headed to flamingo where my buddy had seen some and had caught a couple.  We didn’t see much though eventually a few popped up, we had to give it some time but eventually got a bite and caught another 50 lb tarpon.  After that they were pretty much done with.  We caught a couple tripletails and some more sharks, didn’t see many tarpon we did fish another channel but not much there after that.  Back at it tomorrow.  4 for 6

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out for Day 2 with Zack and his son Jacob.  We started with the same game plan as yesterday.  Found some bait early and got to fishing nearby there.  Not quite as many fish today they seemed to thin out somewhat, but still some definitely.  We got one right away and then sharks a plenty.  We made a move and not much, then further down we got in front of some good packs of fish that were rolling heavily.  We hooked a double header that we landed and then Jacob got a single nice 70 lb fish.  After that we moved again and Zack jumped a fish and then Jacob got another roughly the same size 75 lbs or so.  After that a buddy of mine came in and we decided to go look in some other spots.  We got a big goliath grouper on our light tackle which was cool, then saw a few tarpon in another area and jumped 1 and the sharks got u.  But Zack got a big lemon shark which was cool.  Then we got a cobia and a few more sharks on another spot and called it a day.  Still a banner day though after the last few days it feels kinda slow – guess I’ve been spoiled!  Back at it tomorrow hopefully it stays just as good really.  5 for 7

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing

Got out with Zack and his son Jacob today for day 1 of their 2 day trip with me.  It was another awesome one!  We headed out early and caught some bait to start the day.  Loaded the well and got to it.  Found the tarpon right away with the last couple hours of incoming tide.  Jacob got hooked up within the first 30 seconds and caught a nice silver king, then jumped another right after that.  Sharks moved in afterwards though and we moved around.  After a couple moves Jacob got a nice 65 lb tarpon!  Then we made one more move and got into the honey hole.  We caught 3 double headers in a row it was just crazy good.  Mostly smaller fish but they were hitting a bait if it made it to the water for sure.  After that the tide quit and we moved around and still caught a couple more fish on the tide change.  Then we got a couple more after that on the falling tide.  Though the last hour it finally slowed down a little.  I was wondering if it’d be my beat my best day ever which was a few days ago but unfortunately no.  Though still insanely good.  Back at it tomorrow with these guys we may mix it up a little and try the tarpon early then switch it up when the tide changes.  This july continues to be the most epic fishing I’ve ever seen for tarpon in Islamorada, let’s see how much longer it holds up for!  11 for 12

Capt. Rick Stanczyk
Instagram: @richardstanczyk
Facebook: Islamorada Tarpon Fishing